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They're both huge guys. It's like having a couple of bison facing off inside a dressing room. The tower cabin is too small for this testosterone showdown and I'm worried they're going to break something important— like each other.
Sure enough, Mesa breaks free of Ozzie's grip and swings a fist. His blow glances off Oz's shoulder though and Oz comes back with a hit of his own that catches Mesa off balance.
Hastily throwing my jacket over my pajama shirt, I rush to put an end to this.
"Quit it, now!" I shove myself between the two hulking buffalo in the room and glare up at my brother. "If you hit him again, I swear I'll throw you off this fucking tower, Mesa Diaz!"
Mesa takes a step back, putting some distance between himself and me, looking stunned.
"Fucking hell, Meadow! What the hell is going on here?"
"Yeah, what the hell is going on, Mesa? What are you doing here?" Oz roars from behind me, and I have to put my hand out to calm him down.
His hands immediately land on my shoulders. Protectively. Possessively. Making it clear that I'm his and he'll destroy anyone that threatens me-- even if it's one of my loving-but-idiot brothers.
Mesa's eyes narrow into tight focus on Osprey's hands. If he had laser vision, I have no doubt that Oz would be incinerated by now-- but my brother doesn't move to get past me.
Probably because he knows I really will toss him over the railing if he tries.
"The fire jumped the fucking road. It's beyond our control at this point, and they're sending a hotshot crew in to take over. I came up here to make sure my sister was getting off the mountain safely and I find you up here with your fucking hands on her!"
This time Mesa does make a move, reaching over my head in half a lunge toward Oz. I shove my brother backwards, putting all my weight into it.
I grew up with three brothers that all ended up a foot taller than me before I hit puberty. I learned a long time ago how to win a fight with a guy twice my size.
Mesa takes two steps back and glowers-- this time, at me.
"You told me you didn't want him near you, Meadow. What the fuck is going on?"
Osprey
"That was ten years ago, Mesa! We were kids then and neither of us knew how to deal with what we were feeling."
Only one of the Diaz girls would be brave enough-- or stupid enough-- to put herself in front of one of the Diaz boys' fists, and damn if Red isn't doing a fine job of making her older brother cower like a scared pup.
I can't exactly blame her brother, if I had a sister, I'd do anything to keep her safe. If I'd walked in and seen Red with another man's hands on her, there'd have been no calming me down. Especially if the last I'd heard was that she hated that man.
That's different though. Mesa needs to shut up and hear what we have to say.
If he still needs to kill me, I won't make it easy on him. This time, I have something worth living for and I'm not giving Meadow up without a fight.
"You hated him two days ago! You were just down at the house telling us how much you hated having to work with him."
"I changed my mind." Meadow throws her hands in the air and shrugs like it's really that simple.
"I love Red," I tell Mesa, pulling her back against my chest and wrapping my arm across her chest-- more to keep her from trying to kill her brother, to be honest, but also because I want him to see the way she melts against me, letting me touch her like I own her, making it clear from the way her hands slide up over my arm that she owns me too.
"And I love Oz."
I guess we've said and done enough between the two of us now that her words shouldn't catch me off guard, but they do.
My chest swells with pride and my heart is doing a happy tap dance while my dick attempts an ill-timed erection.
Mesa stares, his eyes moving from me to Meadow and back before his scrubs his hand down his face and tugs on his beard.
"And suddenly you're okay with the nickname, Med? You always hated that."
"Oz can call me 'Red,'" Meadow says, swiveling her head up to give me a wink. "If you try it, I will break your balls like egg shells."
